learn me -- living in VA

So, why would I/wouldn't I want to move to VA? Specifically, somewhere between Richmond and DC? Property looks to be affordable, taxes are not astronomical.........

So -- comments from the collective? Thanks!

Personal property tax every year on cars :-( Annual inspection of cars.

<- between DC and Fredericksburg

Safety inspection every year. Its not that bad. Tax sucks, not too bad on older vehicles but if you have a new-ish one, holy E36 M3. But still its an annual expense for your vehicles.

Emissions only required every other year, and only in these areas: The counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, or Stafford, and The cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, or Manassas Park.

I am a little west of Fredericksburg. No emissions for me.

Property IS affordable in the Fredericksburg area, compared to northern va. Good chance you can find a place with some land too.

So -- the personal property tax on cars is new to me -- how does that work/calculated? Is it really like an expensive license plate? Might be a bit of a concern since the stable includes 6 cars and 1 trailer.

And regarding emissions inspections -- does that not apply for cars older than 25 years or is it perpetual?

thanks -- keep em coming!

Interstate 95 is a parking lot several times a day. Commuting in that corridor is miserable unless you have a reverse commute.

If you have to commute to the NOVA/DC region, you will wish to stab your eyes out with a ballpoint pen.

Shirt drenching humidity in the summertime.

That's the bad news. The good?

Within about an hour's drive:

To the East - sitting on a sailboat in the Chesapeake

To the West - Shenandoah National Park

To the North - the culture and sophistication of the Nation's Capitol

In just about any direction - scenic byways, as much history as you can stomach, pretty damn good fried chicken and some of the best crab cakes anywhere.

I travel there regularly and if circumstances required, I wouldn't hesitate to live there. (unless I had to commute to DC)

I dont think emmissions applies if you register the car as an antique, but that has its own stipulations as to how much you are supposed to drive it. Not entirely sure.

registration is something like $40 a year per car. custom license plates are like $10 extra. you can change them whenever you want and they prorate that $10 based on how much your registration is left. haha.

dmvnow.com (state website) can probably answer most of your VA auto related questions. thats where I pulled the emissions jursidictions.

Yea if you can avoid 95 for your commute, thats good. I take backroads to and from work driving from Locust Grove to Manassas, never get near 95. My commute is borderline relaxing through a few small towns and farmland.

+1, I can drive an hour and see cool stuff no matter which direction I go.

bludroptop wrote: To the North - the culture and sophistication of the Nation's Capitol

Someone at a recent convention I was at said "DC is the town of southern efficiency and northern charm."

I love the DC metro area with two exceptions: Cost of living and traffic. I'm looking at leaving the area, and will certainly miss how nice it is, and how there is so much to do here.

The worst traffic jam I ever saw was the intersection right at the Manassas battlefield around quttin time.

failboat's list of counties requiring emissions ends right at Fredericksburg - so if you're between there and Richmond you avoid the emissions inspection entirely. VA DMV website says that cars 25+ years old are exempt from emissions inspections.

Personal Property tax on your vehicles is set by each locality within VA, so without knowing where you're headed we couldn't tell you. I live in Henrico County just west of Richmond, and my tax bill this year was about $90 for an '05 Focus.

Good info from all y'all -- keep it coming!

I like that southern efficiency/northern charm comment -- that's the impression I had when up in the area on business years ago.

Property taxes don't seem too bad -- off to check to see what the state income tax is like.

Prince William county (tax and license fee) I am paying. All numbers rounded. All cars in PW County have a license fee of $24 the rest is tax.

1990 miata $45
1997 miata $70
1997 Impreza $45
2003 MS protege $100
2003 Protege5 $90
2006 Ford E-350 $175
2008 Car trailer $60

This is in addition to the sales tax you pay when buying the car and the registration fees for plates.

5.75% -- my my my -- I guess I got spoiled living here in the republic de tejas

In reply to moxnix:

thanks!!!

Transplanted Yankee here. Lived in the Richmond area since '85, It's great. Except it hardly ever snows.

NoVA has too much traffic, not enough roads. And they've got a E36 M3-ton of roads.

Personal property tax was being phased out under a Republican governor some years back. Democrats got back in control and put a stop to that E36 M3. So the tax is about 60% less than it used to be. If your fleet is older, as ours is, it's a non-issue. If you own four or five brand new cars, it's gonna hurt. A lot.

I've got my truck registered as an antique. Soon to do the same with the RX-7. No emissions, no inspection whatsoever. You are limited to within (I think) 200 miles from home and "limited use". You cannot "antique" your DD. You must prove ownership or access to another non-antique vehicle.

Richmond is a pretty cool town. I like it here. Sports, theatre, recreation--whatever you're looking for. And especially history. Patrick Henry? Yeah, he lived in Hanover County just north, and St. John's church is in Richmond. Civil War? All around Richmond. White House of the Confederacy is here.

Back to the present day. Job market is pretty strong. Real estate is generally reasonable. Some areas offer bargains while some of the more exclusive areas rival the northeast in terms of pricing. Henrico and Hanover Counties have excellent schools, if you're looking to raise a family.

orphancars wrote: 5.75% -- my my my -- I guess I got spoiled living here in the republic de tejas

Now compare property tax on real estate. If you own a home, it's basically a wash. I'm always shocked what Texans pay for real estate taxes.

bludroptop wrote:

orphancars wrote: 5.75% -- my my my -- I guess I got spoiled living here in the republic de tejas

Now compare property tax on real estate. If you own a home, it's basically a wash. I'm always shocked what Texans pay for real estate taxes.

I agree that real estate taxes are low in VA. Curious, I turned to teh googles and found a number of different charts, but all of them have VA ahead of TX in taxes, i.e. Virginians pay more.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/10/pf/taxes/state_tax_rates/index.htm

DO NOT SPEED ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

That is unless you like paying extremely high fines.

JtspellS wrote: DO NOT SPEED ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 That is unless you like paying extremely high fines.

Well...........this is not relevant to my interests. Are we talking road patrol like they do in Ohio......or worse???

bludroptop wrote:

orphancars wrote: 5.75% -- my my my -- I guess I got spoiled living here in the republic de tejas

Now compare property tax on real estate. If you own a home, it's basically a wash. I'm always shocked what Texans pay for real estate taxes.

To within a few $k, I really feel that (with a few exceptions), it really is a wash. Some cities here in North Texas have property takes that are like $1k or $1200.............a month! Mind you, that isn't for some palacial estate either -- just a decent house, not a lot of land. Like the say in real estate....location^3. This is why the Chicago area, though I like it for a lot of things, doesn't appeal to me financially. Property taxes seem to be large, and state income tax is creeping every year. Same for the greater Milwaukee area. But move a county or so away and things get dramatically better.

Ontopic -- VA seems slightly more spendy when looking at it from a vehicle tax + property tax + state income tax POV, but not really unmanageable compared to where I am now.

orphancars wrote:

JtspellS wrote: DO NOT SPEED ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 That is unless you like paying extremely high fines.

Well...........this is not relevant to my interests. Are we talking road patrol like they do in Ohio......or worse???

Ticket happy pens in them there police pockets..... Then you get the ticket fine and it is like $30 in the fine, but $250 in court costs to shuffle some paper around.

Are radar detectors still illegal in VA? I have to admit..last time I drove there was dang near 20yrs. ago. It was also the last time I passed cars on the shoulder..yeah, my fault--but I was pretty angry after waiting for a car going 56mph to get around one going 55mph on I-95 south of Richmond.

Many of the interstate highways in VA have grassy medians with trees growing in the middle and paths cut through for emergency vehicles. Our state troopers like those as hiding places. A lot. And radar detectors are still illegal here.

That said, the strategy of "make sure someone is driving more like a shiny happy person than you" seems to be pretty effective.

In over 25 years of driving, I've never gotten a speeding ticket here. As noted above, just don't be the guy going 20 over all by your lonesome. Average speeds on I-95 (traffic permitting) are at least 10 mph over the posted limit.

I have heard of mass crackdowns on I-81, usually during holiday weekends, where they write a few hundred speeding tickets in a weekend.

And re the radar detectors, yup, still illegal. And they have radar detector detectors. A friend of mine was curious as to how they worked, so he failed to turn his off when he was being shadowed by an officer in traffic. By passing him, then falling back, the officer was able to pinpoint the presence of the detector in his vehicle. He then pulled my friend over. I forget the outcome as it was many years ago. My friend did have a nice long talk with the officer, who explained how the gizmo worked.

szeis4cookie wrote: Many of the interstate highways in VA have grassy medians with trees growing in the middle and paths cut through for emergency vehicles. Our state troopers like those as hiding places. A lot.

I used to make quite a few trips down I-85 out of Richmond and this is the troof.